News

02/06/2014
The night sky may still be full of them, but our tide pools are suddenly dark and empty. A disease known as sea-star wasting syndrome has caused significant harm to starfish along the West Coast, decimating the population in Marin, local scientists and beachcombers said. George Clyde, a Marshall resident,...

02/06/2014
The National Park Service has denied a request by third-generation ranchers to inhabit a home on their historic ranch, a narrow 340-acre parcel that sits between Point Reyes Station and Olema. Virginia McFadden, whose family has ties to the land dating to 1918, and her husband, Jim, sought a permit to allow them to continue agricultural operations after their 25-year reservation of use of occupancy expired late last year. But the government says that because the McFaddens sublet the land for ranching by someone outside their clan while their son and his family lived in the residence in recent years, the two uses—agricultural and residential—have been irrevocably split. Mr. McFadden said his decision to return to the land was prompted in part by the Interior Secretary’s announcement when he decided to shut down Drakes Bay Oyster Company that the park...

02/06/2014
Maureen Pinto had been waiting more than 15 years to deliver a document to the National Park Service, a proposal for a lease in a public bidding competition she sent in before the deadline last Friday. As head of the nonprofit Ocean Riders of Marin, Ms. Pinto is asking for the right to continue managing the Golden Gate Dairy Stables in Muir Beach, a historic operation that predates the inception...

01/30/2014
The fate of Drakes Bay Oyster Company rests in the hands of the justices of the United States Supreme Court. The historic Point Reyes shellfish farm’s owners, employees and supporters might have thought a miracle occurred on Monday, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the farm’s plea for...

01/30/2014
In recent revisions to the management plan for the Open Space District’s fire roads and trails—the first comprehensive strategy since the district’s creation in 1972—county staff dropped many proposed constraints on trail mileage and use after widespread public outcry, leaving lingering questions about the process and unaddressed issues for mountain bikers. At a rowdy public hearing characterized by...

01/30/2014
Emerging or mid-career visual artists in Marin County are eligible for a $25,000 grant from the Pirkle Jones Foundation. The fourth grant in the foundation’s history is meant to support a promising artist and may be used for any purpose, including living expenses. The deadline for application submittal is March...

01/30/2014
A project to monitor West Coast waters for radiation released from the 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has posted its first results with help from Bing Gong, the co-host of KWMR’s Post-Carbon Radio who raised money for sampling kits and buckets of water to be shipped...

01/30/2014
West Marin conservationist Bob Berner is one of three citizens the Board of Supervisors appointed on Tuesday to a committee that will oversee an annual audit of Measure A expenditures, which support parkland and farm conservation easements. The committee, comprised of five community members and two parks and open space...

01/30/2014
The Dance Palace Community Center is seeking input from locals as it embarks on a new three-year plan that will help guide the nonprofit, establish new goals and dictate which programs should be expanded, maintained, created or cut, said Executive Director Dan Mankin. An annual members meeting on Monday, Feb...

01/30/2014
Rancho Feeding Corporation, a Petaluma slaughterhouse that is the last place to harvest cattle in the Bay Area, reopened on Monday following recalls of more than 42,000 pounds of beef and a two-week suspension ordered by the United States Department of Agriculture. “We’re back open, and we’ve implemented different procedures...